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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Have you ever come across a recipe so unique and intriguing that you just had to run out and get everything you'd need to give it a try? Well, when Stef from Cupcake Project was searching for the best way to get the flavor of watermelon into a cupcake, her friend Marissa from Food in Jars got to work and came up with a watermelon jelly. Watermelon jelly say what? I had to try it. The ingredients were simple, and I always have watermelon within reach during the summer, so I ran home cut one up into chunks and got to work. I followed the recipe to the letter, but even two days later the contents of my jars still resembled more of a runny sauce then a nice thick jam or jelly. I think I got a bit nervous at the smell the jam was taking on and I may have not cooked it as long as I should have.

Once I was sure that it just will not set no matter how long I waited, I reopened all the jars and dumped everything back into the pot. I added a bit more lemon juice to try and cut the sweetness and boost up the pectin, and recooked the mess to 215F again, letting it boil for a bit longer then I was strictly comfortable with, but this time everything came out great! The jam set and I had 7 shiny jars of lovely jelly tasting quite strongly of watermelon. I'm already plotting "I know what you did last summer" desserts to make with it, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that my jam exchangepartner will like it too.

Combine watermelon puree, sugar and lemon juice in a large, non-reactive pot (anything but aluminum). Get one bigger than you think, you'll want plenty of space for things to foam up without overflowing. Bring to a boil and let it boil vigorously until the temperature of mixture reaches 220 degrees. Be sure to stir frequently, you don't want it to burn on the bottom. Add the powdered pectin and boil for another five minutes.

Remove from the heat and pour into clean, sterilized jars, leaving about a half inch of headspace. Wipe rims, apply lids and screw on bands. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

When time is up, remove from canner and let jars cool completely, preferably overnight. When they’re cool enough to handle, remove rings and test seals. You can eat immediately or store unopened jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Print up some pretty labels (I used the template from here found at this cool site) and start scheming.

First, let me thank you for bumping my comments to 667! LOL. I DO appreciate stuff like that AND second, Wowza!! You took that label to one fantastic level. Who ever heard of watermelon jam?! I HAVE TO HAVE SOME!! Thanks so much for linking to my site. Have a great day.

Thank you guys, it really is yummy. I'm already imagining cracking this baby open in January and breathing in the sunshine.

Angie, I've never seen it sold, but if you can get a jar, I'd definitely recommend you try it. It's different, but yummy.

Carter, I got the template for the labels from the fabulously talented lady here: http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/, just do a search for glitter, she used these to decorate her glitter bottles and I thought they were fantastic.

Thanks or the recipe, it turned out great! I made one batch using peach as well, so it was watermelon/peach jam and another with lime, so it was watermelon lime jam. They are super yummy and beautiful!

You know, that's a good question. I've been eating it on english muffins for breakfast, but there aren't too many other uses for it. I'll have to think about it, make another batch and get back to you.

I just finished using your recipe. It turned out great! This was my first year to grow watermelons, and I believe they were slightly over-watered because they weren't very sweet. I started out making some watermelon pickles (yum) with the rinds, and I just hated to throw out all of that semi-sweet pulp. I'm not really sure what to do with it either, but my kids have decided that it is great on popcorn! (Crazy teenage boys...) Last winter I canned a bunch of half-pints of lime marmalade. It is wonderful but everyone is sick of lime marmalade so I've adapted an orange marmalade cookie recipe to accommodate my limes. They are so good! I may try the watermelon jelly in them tomorrow. Wouldn't that be crazy? Watermelon cookies!

Made this a couple weeks back and it is DELISH! I used key lime juice instead of lemon because I'll take lime over lemon any day of the week. I also went with the 4c of sugar instead of 5 and I still thought it was a little too sweet for my taste, but nobody around here is complaining, lol. Tastes like a Jolly Rancher! I'm going to figure out a way to incorporated it into cupcakes as not only filling,but as a flavoring in the buttercream as well. ;)

A few days after making this, I also made a batch of jalapeno jelly. Lemme let you in on a little secret... Watermelon jelly + jalapeno jelly + goat cheese on crackers = OMNOMNOMNOMNOM!!!! I may just add some chopped jalapeno to my next batch!

Everyone around here is really impressed, so, you know, thanks for making me look good. Especially with that kick ass label! (I used a dirty typewriter font and it looks amazing!)

Attempting to make this morning. I don't have enough watermelon, so I am going to use honey dew and cantaloupe also. Also going to use low to no sugar pectin, which according the the jar, will only take 2 cups of sugar. Excited to try! The household in which I live isn't too fond of melon, so I bet I will be giving a lot away this holiday season.

To answer a few most recent questions, no, there is absolutely no food coloring in there. The jam was pretty runny still when it was warm, but as long as you cook it to the proper temperature, it will set up once it's completely cool. And I'm sorry, but I've never worked with liquid pectin and I'm not sure about the difference between it and the powdered version. You could give it a try, but I'd suggest finding the powdered pectin to be sure it will work. Thanks for reading!

I have made watermelon jam many times and I also make watermelon with strawberries. Nice twist to it. Also I have made watermelon with cinnamon which was also great.. I have found that the watermelon jams are best served cold makes it much more crisper tasting.... Great recipe and great direction....

Tried making this today- I had a little taste while it was cooking and it was awesome. However (please bear with me as this is the first time I've made jam or canned anything), I'm noticing that it's still really runny! Any ideas what I may have done wrong? I followed the recipe except I did use Evaporated Cane Sugar instead of regular white sugar- 4 cups of that rather than 5 per your suggestion. It's been a couple of hours and the jars feel cool, so if it's runny now does that mean it's just going to be runny?Thanks!

Toni, I included a link to the site where I got the labels in the post, so you can just grab them from there. I didn't save the file after I printed them, sorry.

Cali, I've never used Evaporated Cane Sugar so I don't know what affect that would cause, but decreasing the sugar will affect the set of your jelly depending on the type of pectin you're using.

Nicole, I have never made freezer jam, but give it a try and let me know how it comes out!

Renee, I didn't add any more pectin, but I did add about a quarter cup of lemon juice when I went to reheat it. You can add a bit more pectin if you like, but the key was to bring it up to the proper temperature, so make sure that your thermometer is accurate.

The best way to determine the texture of how the jam will turn out is to take a small metal bowl, ladle, ect, as long as it's metal. pour the hot jam in that and place on top of ice.once it's cold that is how your jam will turn out. hope this helps

I may have messed mine up. Boo hoo. I added the pectin before it started boiling and I think mine are going to be too thick. I bought smaller 4 oz jars and only got 4 1/2 jars from this recipe. Something tells me these will be way to sweet though I cut the sugar to 4 cups and way too thick. This is my first attempt at jelly making so we'll see. Either way I'm trying it again!

I have a question: it states to put sugar and lemon in first then pectin. I have always done the pectin first. Have I been doing it wrong? I made tomato jam last night and the recipe is in my head and I was off because it has been years and years since I have made it so it did not set but still taste good lol

I just got done making and processing right now. I had a really hard time bringing it up to the correct temp with the lid off the cooking pot(on a turbo burner), the closes I could come was between 200-215 (w/ lid off), I am assuming (more like hoping)that with the lid on it reached the right temp. It burnt a little on the bottom and when ladling jelly into jars I tried to make sure no burnt parts went into the jars. For the first attempt in making I might not be able to give away/exchange, but we will enjoy it all the same! I also added a cup of watermelon juice before cooking, b/c I could tell that burning may be an issue (I'm glad I did, or it may have lost all of it the first attempt. I also reduced sugar to 4C as suggested and may reduce further the next time after a little taste test. Thank you posting this yummy treat and all the suggestions! I can't wait to share it with family and friends!...I am now on a mission to find a recipe to make watermelon juice, I hate to throw out all the yummy watermelon juice!--any suggestions?

To answer some questions, to purée the watermelon I used my immersion blender, but you can use a regular blender or just smash the pieces if you don't mind chunks in the final product. I didn't do anything special to have it come out that clear. It's not as clear as jelly, but its pretty close. A non-stick pot counts as non-reactive, but I meant don't use anything that will react with acid, so no stainless steel or copper. I used my enamel coated Dutch oven, if that helps. If you had trouble and it didn't set up, you can either boil it again like I did, or mix it up with some lemonade, vodka and ice for a lovely cocktail....which I also did :). Hope that helps!

I had tons of peaches a few years ago, and decided to try something different after several batches of regular jam. I added 15 drops of Loranne watermelon flavoring (used for suckers, etc.) to a large batch. That's all anyone will let me make now! It has the great texture of peach jam, and the flavor of watermelon. Great on toast, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, etc. Super easy!

the jam is done when you do the saucer test. put a few small plated in the freezer, test when you think its close to being ready at least 45 minutes. Put the plate back in freezer for 1 minute. run your finger through jam to see if it wrinkles and doesn't run back unto itself. Also the color depends on the color of your melon. mine was less red. So I added food coloring so it was a beautiful hot pink. 3 drops of airbrush food coloring was all it took. So beautiful and amazingly delicious. Perfect for lemonade cupcakes with a watermelon buttercream!!! Thanks for Sharing!!

OMG - soooo good. I just made a slightly larger batch of this. 9 cups of watermelon puree, 6 cups of sugar (plenty sweet enough), 3/4 cup of raw sugar (all I had) and the equivalent of 1 1/2 packets of pectin. It set pretty quickly, I just had some on buttered bread and it is so good. So refreshing and light. I couldn't get the temperature to go above 100%C and I gave up on that after a while because I was paranoid that the jam would lose its freshness. So glad it set anyway.Thank you so much for sharing. Delish!

Stainless steel reacts with the acid in the jam and causes discoloration and other inconsistencies. As for using Splenda, I've never tried it but I don't think it would work as splenda doesn't caramelize the same way as regular sugar. You could try getting no-sugar needed pectin and cut down the regular sugar amount if you're worried about it. Let me know how that goes!

This is beautiful. I boiled a little longer after it hit 220, added pectin, and boiled for another 8 minutes. It was perfect. Thanks so much for this recipe, I'd been looking for watermelon jelly recipes for quite awhile!

Just a quick thing to note. With jams you cannot cut the amount of sugar or it will not set. Instead you end up with something more the consistency of syrup. A friend tried it with strawberries and it would not set at all.

My wife and I are new farmers and 1st time canners this year. We are trying to live a sustainable life and be proactive about what we eat as well as enabling us to raise money for our non-profit Love Feeds Inc. so that we can help others in need and share the love of Christ. We all love Watermelon here but unfortunately depending on perspective I am the only jam lover. I would love some for my personal collection and will use this recipe for our fundraiser. Mt question is I think you said it made 7 jars? What sixe jars did you use?

Mine is out of the canner and cooling. I boiled 15 minutes, so hoping to get a good set. This is the only jam I have ever made that has the pectin added last. I may try the same things, but do it my old way with the sugar added last. As for reactive pan, I always thought it was no ALUMINUM or copper and that stainless steel was ok? Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe! :D

Love your recipe, but I wish you bloggers would learn how to use "then" and "than". It is very distracting when trying to read an article and every time I see it misused, I have to stop and almost start over. Does a spell check not pick this up?

As a southerner I am certainly no stranger to watermelon rind preserves, but watermelon (meat) jam is a new one to me. Can you give any suggestions for making this recipe with naturally sweetened sugars like stevia, honey, or molasses? My system does not tolerate refined sugars.

I am so excited to try this recipe! One question/suggestion....I bake a zillion different flavors of cupcakes and I have found adding flavored Kool Aid really bring alot of flavor. Do you think adding like 1/2 pack of Watermelon Kool Aid would hurt the consistency? Thanks so much for sharing!!

Thanks for the guidelines! I had an idea in my head to make a watermelon based jelly and just didn't know where to start. I'm a bit of a rebel and don't follow recipes exactly...but, by doubling the lemon juice, reducing sugar to 4c (next time, I'll reduce it to 3-3.5c), adding crushed cherries and diced jalapenos, this jelly came out exactly how I envisioned it would in my head lol! :) Thanks!

I tried making your recipe for this jam. When I was boiling the mixture it began to smell like pumpkin. I added the pectin and tasted it and it tasted a little like pumpkin too. Did I over cook the melon?

Many times it has been stated NOT to us stainless steel sauce pans due to its reactivity with the acids in the food ingredients. This is NOT an accurate statement. Per the "Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving", stainless IS the preferred cooking vessel to use because of its lack of reactivity to food ingredients acids. I have had an over 40 year career working in commercial food production within one of the largest food processors in the US, and all the food processing equipment almost exclusively stainless steel or food grade plastics. As stated, never use aluminum or copper cooking vessels or utensils.

Same here, yes, by all means, use stainless steel! I grew up on a farm in the 1950's & '60's, & that's all we ever used for non-reactive pots & pans. I sold a lot of homemade jams, jellies & pickled foods, & always used only stainless steel for cooking.

Do not use aluminum or tin, etc. Try cooking tomatoes, lemon juice, tomato sauce, etc. in one of those pots & see what happens to the pot. Plus, I'd hate to taste the resulting product.....

UGH :( Just tried this and I do alot of jelly & jams..1st batch did not set, took lids off and reboiled everything again for 10 more minutes..still not set :( Probably going to open again and add another pack of pectin. Hate to waste it, I have 15 jelly jars full of "watermelon juice"

For people who want to use low/natural sweeteners or are having problems setting, I used Pomona's Universal Pectin and it worked great. I only used 1.5c sugar and about a half packet of pectin (the other half went into this same recipe but with honeydew melon!) and it set perfectly. I had to follow their instructions on amount of sweetener and pectin to use because it's a little different than yours, but boy does it taste great! Thank you so much for this!!! Oh and it made 6c jam plus a little extra.

Interesting that so many of us had problems with it setting up! Will be trying mine again with powdered pectin as I used liquid first time around, looks perfect and was definitely brought to temp. Maybe a pectin problem? :). Thanks for the recipe!

I made this and absolutely loved it! However based on others comments I did make a few changes! I added 4 cups of sugar and one small box of watermelon Jell-O! So good! I could eat with a spoon!!! Also, I boiled the watermelon mixture for 15 minutes (I didn't mess with the whole thermometer thing). Added the pectin and Jello then Boiled another 5 minutes (I added 6 tablespoons of Ball pectin powder and it set perfectly) I wanted more of a thick jelly as opposed to a thinner jam. Yum!

Have you ever made pickled watermelon rind? I love it! My grandparents always had it and it was my summer snack. I made some the other year and it was delicious. The one downfall was that the recipe I used took 2 days to make. Have you made it and had it take two days as well? My recipe was from a Better Homes & Gardens canning magazine.